Validation of GreenH 2 armony ® as a Tool for the Computation of Harmonised Life-Cycle Indicators of Hydrogen

Antonio Valente, Diego Iribarren and Javier Dufour
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Antonio Valente: Systems Analysis Unit, IMDEA Energy, 28935 Móstoles, Spain
Diego Iribarren: Systems Analysis Unit, IMDEA Energy, 28935 Móstoles, Spain
Javier Dufour: Systems Analysis Unit, IMDEA Energy, 28935 Móstoles, Spain

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is often used to check the environmental suitability of hydrogen energy systems, usually involving comparative studies. However, these comparative studies are typically affected by inconsistent methodological choices between the case studies under comparison. In this regard, protocols for the harmonisation of methodological choices in LCA of hydrogen are available. The step-by-step application of these protocols to a large number of case studies has already resulted in libraries of harmonised carbon, energy, and acidification footprints of hydrogen. In order to foster the applicability of these harmonisation protocols, a web-based software for the calculation of harmonised life-cycle indicators of hydrogen has recently been developed. This work addresses—for the first time—the validation of such a tool by checking the deviation between the available libraries of harmonised carbon, energy, and acidification footprints of hydrogen and the corresponding tool-based harmonised results. A high correlation (R 2 > 0.999) was found between the library- and tool-based harmonised life-cycle indicators of hydrogen, thereby successfully validating the software. Hence, this tool has the potential to effectively promote the use of harmonised life-cycle indicators for robust comparative LCA studies of hydrogen energy systems, significantly mitigating misinterpretation.

Keywords: acidification; carbon footprint; energy footprint; harmonisation; hydrogen; life cycle assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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